Infamous Auschwitz Tattoo Began as an IBM Number The Constantine Report

The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan word tatau, meaning "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionary provides the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, and so on.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." Ahead of the importation of the Polynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West as painting, scarring or staining.The etymology of the body modification term is not to be confused with the origins of the word for the military drumbeat or functionality — see military tattoo. In this case, the English word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe.The initial written reference to the word tattoo (or tatau) seems in the journal of Joseph Banks (24 February 1743 – 19 June 1820), the naturalist aboard explorer James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour: "I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humour or disposition".[5] The word tattoo was brought to Europe by Cook, when he returned in 1769 from his first voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage, he refers to an operation named "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as "ink", "pieces", "skin art", "tattoo art", "tats" or "work"; to the creators as "tattoo artists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to places exactly where they function as "tattoo shops", "tattoo studios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of both standard and custom tattoo styles, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museum of Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo styles that are mass-made and sent to tattoo artists are known as "flash", a notable instance of industrial design.[8] Flash sheets are prominently displayed in numerous tattoo parlors for the purpose of supplying each inspiration and prepared-created tattoo photos to consumers.

The Japanese word irezumi signifies "insertion of ink" and can imply tattoos using tebori, the classic Japanese hand technique, a Western-style machine or any strategy of tattooing utilizing insertion of ink. The most frequent word employed for standard Japanese tattoo styles is horimono. Japanese may possibly use the word tattoo to mean non-Japanese styles of tattooing.